Under Armour will continue as the apparel partner of US college sports giant Notre Dame after securing a new 10-year contract with the university’s athletic department.
The agreement, worth around $10 million per year, according to Yahoo Sports, is one of the most lucrative apparel deals in college sports and comes a year before its current 10-year, $90 million contract was due to expire.
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🤝 @NotreDame . 10 more years of partnering with the Fighting Irish ☘️ and supporting student-athletes both on AND off the field. pic.twitter.com/apUlyaz7Em
— Under Armour (@UnderArmour) August 4, 2023
Negotiations for the contract went to the open market earlier this year after the exclusive negotiating window with Under Armour expired, with fellow sportswear giants adidas and NIKE submitting bids.
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By GlobalDataBefore Under Armour, Notre Dame’s apparel partner was Adidas under a 10-year deal that expired in 2014.
In recent years, Under Armour has ended several of its college sports deals including with the University of California, Los Angeles, the University of California, Berkeley, and the University of Hawaii.
Boston College and the University of Cincinnati also ended their deals with the brand by signing with New Balance and Adidas, respectively.
Along with Notre Dame, Under Armour’s US college portfolio currently includes the universities of Utah, Wisconsin, Auburn, and Maryland.
In June, it was announced Pete Bevacqua would step down as chairman of US network NBC Sports to take up a role as athletics director at Notre Dame, replacing long-serving incumbent Jack Swabrick when he departs in 2024.
Bevacqua will take over in the first quarter of 2024 as the school looks to renegotiate its next broadcast partnership, with its current deal with NBC Sports due to expire at the end of the 2024 academic year.
Notre Dame competes in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) in all sports except men’s ice hockey, which it plays in the Big Ten Conference, and American football, where it maintains its status as an independent university.
The new deal comes as the US college sports conference system faces a major overhaul, with the Pac-12 Conference teetering on the edge of collapse after decisions by the University of Oregon and the University of Washington to play in the Big Ten conference in 2024.
The most recent departures, as well as the exits of the universities of Southern California, California-Los Angeles, Colorado, Arizona, Arizona State, and Utah to the Big 12 Conference, means Pac-12 will enter the 2024-25 academic year with only four members.
The future of Pac-12 is unclear but the four teams left in Pac-12 are understood to be looking to join other conferences including the Mountain West Conference and ACC, which would end Pac-12 entirely.
